


Tea Mojo

by nowweareunstoppable



Series: Broomsticks, Engines, & Falling (in Love) [2]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Divination, F/F, Friendship, Gen, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-20
Updated: 2015-12-20
Packaged: 2018-05-08 01:19:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5477942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nowweareunstoppable/pseuds/nowweareunstoppable
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Magic is just science that nobody’s figured out yet. Drinking a cup of tea and poking around in the muck left behind is neither one of those things!”</p>
<p>Korra nudged Asami’s cup towards her. “Well then, drink up and we’ll see who’s right.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tea Mojo

Actual, legitimate wheezes were puffing out of Asami’s mouth. She was running as fast as she could, but the Library and the North Tower were not at all close to each other, and she was already five minutes late.

“Maybe you should take a break, my dear, you sound like a rusty tea kettle!” An ancient painting of a pristine Englishman on a hunt, complete with wolfhounds and a thorny dragon, already stuck with a few arrows hung on the wall of the corridor up ahead of her. It was one of the wolfhounds that’d called out to her, and as she passed the painting, the dog turned and loped easily alongside her and kept pace by passing between paintings.

“Can’t,” Asami huffed, “Fell asleep in the library, late for Divination, Professor Aiwei will kill me!”

The wolfhound leapt over the lap of a heavily made up noblewoman with a gigantic wig. She yelped and swatted at his behind with her fan but he was already gone. When he reappeared in a gorgeous landscape of a pond he woofed, “I’ve been hunting here for a long time and I don’t think a professor has ever murdered a student for being late, though Harry Potter’s time was pretty exciting, I’d have to think about that a little mo-”

“Figure of speech!” Asami interrupted, and immediately regretted wasting the air. She could see the trapdoor leading to the Divination classroom up ahead and she sent a silent prayer into the air that Aiwei hadn’t noticed her absence yet.

“Regardless! Come back and have a run with me sometime, you sound like you could use the exercise. My name’s Oberon,” The hound called out as Asami scrambled up the ladder. She threw a quick wave over her shoulder at him and then hauled herself up into the classroom.

The curtains were closed, as always, and the room was dim, lit only by harrowing crimson lamps. The room was stifling and it smelled like incense and tea leaves. Asami crouched next to the trapdoor and tried to adjust her eyes to the darkness to see where Professor Aiwei was. She really didn’t want detention, last time she’d been late Aiwei had made her polish crystal balls until the skin on her knuckles got so dry and cracked from the polishing solvent that they’d bled.

“Psst, Asami!” The sound of Korra’s whisper-shout made Asami’s heart leap happily and her shoulders simultaneously sag in relief. This was the first time the Ravenclaw’s had Divination since she’d met Korra and she’d completely forgotten that the shared the class period with the Gryffindors.

Asami crawled over to her new friend, ignoring her other classmates’ giggles. When she reached Korra, the shorter girl pulled her up by her elbows into a cloth beanbag. Asami patted her on the knee in thanks. “What are we doing?”

“Tea leaves!” Korra said brightly. She picked up one of the empty teacups on the small table in front of them and spun it around by the handle.

Asami grinned back at Korra but before she could say anything, a shadow and a jingle of jewelry loomed over them.

“Just what do you think you’re doing with my antique, extremely expensive, teacup Ms. Korra?”

Korra jumped and fumbled the cup. Asami jolted forwards and managed to catch the falling cup before it collided with the tabletop. Korra gulped and glanced nervously at Aiwei.

“You’re lucky Ms. Sato was here. Speaking of ‘here,’ I don’t recall seeing you at the beginning of the lesson, Ms. Sato. Don’t tell me you were late again?” 

Now it was Asami’s turn to gulp. “Uhhh…”

“What are you talking about Professor? She’s been here the whole time! When you handed out the teacups earlier she was, uh, fixing one of your curtains. Yeah, it’d come loose and we all know too much light is bad for seeing the future.” Korra ended her giant fabrication with a crooked grin that nearly made Asami melt where she sat. (Then again, that might’ve been the stifling fireplace, who could really say?)

Aiwei narrowed his eyes, but he had no proof against Korra’s story, and all three of them knew it. “Very well. Get your tea, you two are falling behind in the lesson.”

“Lesson? What lesson,” Asami grumbled as soon as Aiwei was out of earshot, “Find pretty shapes in your tea leaves? This isn’t scientific in any way.”

“Asami, this is a magic school. Reading tea leaves is magic, not science.” Asami knew Korra was teasing her by the way her lips trembled. She was trying to hold back a smirk, but Asami still protested because Divination legitimately riled her up.

“Magic is just science that nobody’s figured out yet. Drinking a cup of tea and poking around in the muck left behind is neither one of those things!”

Korra nudged Asami’s cup towards her. “Well then, drink up and we’ll see who’s right.”

Aiwei was right, they were taking their time to get started, so when she downed her tea, she wasn’t surprised that it was barely warm. At least it didn’t burn, Asami wasn’t the greatest at healing spells. When she was finished, she cocked her head to the side and tried to decipher what the little blobs in the bottom of her cup meant. 

“This one looks like a cup, maybe?” She thumbed through her Divination textbook to find the tea leaves chart. 

“Ohhh, wine and celebration? Sounds like my kind of reading!” A Ravenclaw with a short black bob and sparkling eyes plopped down on a pouffe chair next to Korra and Asami.

“You guys mind if I join you? My brothers are driving me insane.” She jabbed a thumb back over her shoulder, and Korra and Asami squinted in the darkness to try and see who she was pointing at. Two rowdy Gryffindor boys where wrestling in a corner across the room. It looked like one of them had the other in a headlock, but it was hard to tell where one brother started and the other ended, if only for the reason that they looked exactly the same.

Korra seemed to recognize them, because she laughed and said, “You’re Opal? Wing and Wei talk about you all the time. I didn’t know you knew Asami.” At this, Opal ducked her head and had the decency to look a little bit ashamed. But, she tilted her chin up and met Asami’s eyes. 

“Actually, we’re not friends. But,” Opal addressed Asami now, “I think I’d like to be, if you’re open to it. I know I my family transferred here a few months ago now, but they’re driving me nuts and I need some friends who aren’t actually related to me. Plus, I know it was you who caught Jamie’s bed curtains on fire the other night, and I figure if I make an alliance with you, I won’t be next.”

Asami bristled, “Ok for one, that was an accident and I apologized! Secondly…” Asami trailed off when she saw Opal’s mischievous smile. The girl wasn’t serious, Asami realized, she was just joking around. Korra had stayed silent up until now, so Asami didn’t realize that she’d slid closer to her and sat protectively at her shoulder until she turned to assess her opinion on the new girl and almost ran into her.

Korra steadied her with a hand on her shoulder. Asami didn’t miss the way Opal’s eyes darted between the two of them, and the girl’s smile grew. Asami frowned, confused, but Korra interrupted her train of thought, “Uh, sure have a seat. You can help me read Asami’s tea leaves. She’s skeptical of their fortune-telling skills.”

Opal grabbed Asami’s cup, twisting it around and squinting. “No way, tea leaves definitely have magical mojo, Mom used to read mine when I was little. Look see, right there! That’s a heart for sure,” she pointed and Korra leaned in over her shoulder. 

“Maybe if it weren’t so freaking dark in here it would be easier to see the future,” Korra complained, throwing her voice loudly and winning a few laughs from her similarly struggling classmates at the tables near them.

“I dunno Asami, it actually does kind of look like a heart.” Asami took the cup and poked at the leaves with her finger. It could have been a heart, but Asami still thought it looked more like the wine cup of celebration. Korra leaned in and rested her chin on Asami’s shoulder to get a better look and Asami felt herself flush. Yeah, wine definitely sounded good right about now.

“Hey, don’t touch them! You’ll mess up your future!” Korra protested, and nudged her hand away. “Look, I think that’s a broomstick! Opal, what does that mean?”

“Korra, that looks absolutely nothing like a broomstick, what are you talking about?” Asami protested.

“No, she’s right, that’s definitely a broomstick,” Opal declared, leaning back and crossing her arms.

“You didn’t even look!”

Korra started laughing at Asami’s indignation. “Trust in the mojo!” She crooned, wiggling her fingers in Asami’s face.

Asami gently swiped them away and mimicked Opal’s laid back position. She blew her hair out of her face with a huff and grumbled, “Alright, fine. Tell me then, you two, what exactly does a broomstick slash heart predict?”

“Oh, love definitely,” Opal crowed. 

Korra joined in, “For sure! Maybe the broomstick means its going to come from the sky?”

Asami cocked an eyebrow. “My future tea lover is going to fall out of the sky?”

“Or maybe,” Opal leaned in towards them, the mischievous glint back in her eye, “your future lover plays Quidditch. Maybe sh- uh they are even, oh I don’t know… Captain of a Quidditch team?”

Korra, who just so happened to be Captain of the Gryffindor team had been sneaking a drink out of Opal’s untouched tea but upon Opal’s announcement promptly inhaled it into her lungs.

Asami made the same connection Korra did, but she used her friend’s respiratory distress to cover up her embarrassment. She whacked Korra on the back a few times but the girl continued to splutter. Asami was pretty sure one was supposed to turn blue when he or she was choking, but Korra was actually turning a bright pink. It was harder to see against her dark skin tone but it was definitely there.

“Merlin’s beard, Opal, I think you killed her.”

Opal was snickering so hard she looked like she was breathing just as well as Korra, which was not at all. But Asami’s voice must have had a hint of panic in it because she gave one last chuckle and pulled her wand out of her sleeve. She cleared her throat and pointed it at Korra’s chest, then muttered, “Patet!” A rose colored wind streamed out of her wand and into Korra, who gave one last hacking cough before sucking in a clear breath.

The first thing she said was, “Opal, I changed my mind. You can’t sit with us.”

Opal gestured to herself with mock indignation, “Me? I just saved your life!”

Asami rolled her eyes and hauled Korra back up onto her beanbag; she’d fallen off during her near-death experience and was looking rather rumpled. Korra shot her a weak smile in thanks and leaned back against her. Asami stiffened at the unprecedented show of affection, but Korra just wiggled in an attempt to make her loosen up, so she had no choice but to loop an arm around the other girl’s waist. Yep, no choice at all, her hands were tied.

Opal quirked an eyebrow at the two of them, but before she could make another attempt on their lives, Korra spoke up.

“Yeah… you know know what, this whole tea leaf thing might just be bullshit. I give up. Asami, you’re smarter than me, like always.”

“Mmm, I don’t know, I think you might’ve been onto something.” Asami winked and was devilishly pleased with the gleeful surprise on Opal’s face and Korra’s embarrassed groan. 

The creepy jingle of Aiwei’s nose jewelry alerted them once again to his presence. “So girls, what did we decipher today? The future is every changing and fleeting, but if you can manage to grab even the slightest wisp, you hold power above any other.”

Asami rolled her eyes and waved her hand dismissively. “I’m going to get stabbed in the heart with a broomstick, or something like that.” Korra and Opal erupted into choked laughter and Aiwei glowered at them.

“I see. Well, in the future, I hope all three of you take this class more seriously. I also hope that you’re on time next week, Ms. Sato, curtains or not, but who really knows with you.”

“I thought he could see the future,” Opal whispered in Korra’s ear, loud enough for Asami to hear. She lurched forward and clapped a hand over both their mouths before they could burst into laughter again and provoke the Professor any further. She’d made it this far without a detention and these assholes were NOT going to ruin it for her.

She flashed Aiwei a simpering smile and he gave one last dry glower before sweeping away. The sleeve of his robe flicked Korra on the nose as he passed and she snarled at his back.

“Does that mean we can leave?” Opal murmured, “I think that means we can leave. Let’s get the hell out of here, it must be almost lunchtime!” She bounded up from her beanbag and led the way out of the trapdoor and down the ladder. It seems Korra and Asami were her new friends, choice or not, and though she had teased both of them pretty mercilessly, Asami felt that if she really did have to choose, she wasn’t likely to turn her down. She needed all the friends she could get in the Ravenclaw tower. She was pretty sure Jamie was planning on smothering her in her sleep in retaliation for her singed curtains.

When they made it down to the corridor, Asami was surprised to see Oberon waiting patiently for her in the painting closest to the ladder.  
“Asami!” He yelped, and scrambled to his feet to prance excitedly back and forth inside the frame.

“Hey, Oberon, what are you still doing here?” Asami stepped closer to the painting and chose to ignore Korra and Opal’s confused glances.

“I wanted to make sure that Professor didn’t actually hurt you,” he puffed out his chest proudly, “It’s my duty as pack leader to protect the students of this school!” 

Without waiting for an answer, the wolfhound bounded out of the frame and appeared in a painting closer to Korra and Opal. “Are these your packmates? Introduce me!”

“Yep, three-woman wolf pack right here!” Korra said. She flung her arms around Asami and Opal’s shoulders and started to steer them towards the Great Hall. “I’m starving; I’ll introduce us on the way! Think you can keep up?”

Korra seemed at ease with the large dog, and Asami remembered the single white hair Korra had been holding when she first met her. Asami wondered if she had a dog of her own back home and resolved to file the question away to ask Korra about it later. 

“Keep up? I can outpace the fiercest beasts this castle has to offer! You’re no match for me!” 

“Oh yeah? Race you to the Great Hall!” Korra took off, leaving all three of them in the dust. Oberon barked happily and took off after her, his long grey legs disappearing and reappearing in paintings down the corridor. Asami turned to Opal only to find her fellow Ravenclaw had taken off after them already.

“I don’t like running!” Asami yelled in futile to the empty hall. Oh well, she thought. Start the morning running, might as well end it running, too. She had to catch up to her new ‘wolf pack’ didn’t she?

**Author's Note:**

> Guys, like Asami, I know nothing about tea leaves, please forgive me. If I'm going to continue this series, prompts would be cool! I've got an idea for the next installment, but feel free to shoot me some more at my tumblr (nowweareunstoppable).


End file.
